Obtain a Library

All digital library content is provided freely. In most cases there are no restrictions to the redistribution of the of the included material. All installations come with hands-on training on set-up, usage and maintenance.

While the TDLI calls Tanzania home, we are also interested in hearing from other communities elsewhere in Africa. While most of the collection is limited to English-language content, there is a growing range of contributions in French, and Portuguese.

We usually work within three different use cases for communities wishing to obtain a digital library.

1) The first is that a community or educational institution has little to no existing computer equipment that can be re-purposed into a digital library. Usually in this scenario there are also no funds available for purchasing new equipment. In this case we do our best to help communities by sourcing equipment via the pool of donated items that we have collected. We also approach external agencies who may be willing to sponsor a specific initiative. Our crowdfunding campaigns are intended to support these cases where resources are simply not available. This scenario represents a directly-sponsored implementation by TDLI and partners.

2) The second scenario is when a community or educational institution may have some existing computer equipment that can be re-purposed into a digital library. These might include a rarely used workstation or networking equipment. In this case we work with the community to acquire additional components to complete an installation. If there are resources available within the community, we do ask if they are willing to contribute to obtaining additional components if those components cannot be sourced by us via donation or other means. This scenario represents a partially-sponsored implementation by TDLI and partners.

3) The third case scenario is that an institution or community has a large number of potential patrons and wants to build a complete digital library from the ground up using all new components. These are typically institutions that are seeking to reduce their total cost of ownership in existing libraries by going digital, or are seeking new ways of expanding their educational offerings. They are entities that are willing to finance a complete ground-up installation and are willing to provide additional resources to cover the overhead expenses of the project. The proceeds from these types of installations are reinvested into the project, typically to subsidize use case scenarios one and two. We believe that this is a sustainable model and helps the project to reach as many communities as possible while remaining viable into the future. This scenario represents an outright purchase of a digital library by the host community.

ConsiderationsAll potential digital library sites are assessed on the basis of five considerations:

1) The size of the population that the library would serve and whether it would be accessible to the wider public;
2) The state of the infrastructure where the library would be hosted;
3) The reputation of the proposed host in the community;
4) The security of the site;
5) The ability of the institution / community to provide and enforce equal access (i.e. no discrimination of patrons based on gender, religious beliefs, social class or age).

For more information on obtaining a digital library for your community reach out to us.